2017 · Nature · paywalled
Vandeputte et al.
Expressing taxa as cells per gram of stool showed faecal microbial load varies ~10-fold between healthy people and drives apparent compositional differences: relative-abundance data alone can misrepresent quantitative change.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
2020
A multi-institution workshop made the case for a characterised whole-stool reference material so microbiome measurements can be standardised across labs, addressing the absence of defined faecal inputs.
Toward a human whole-stool reference material for metabolomic and metagenomic gut-microbiome measurements — Mandal et al., Metabolomics · source ↗
2020
A study of three children found that the region of stool sampled did not change microbial alpha diversity, while 22 of 176 metabolites varied; homogenising the stool mattered for metabolomics and short room-temperature storage had little effect, which supports simpler home collection protocols within the limits of so small a study.
Impact of sampling regions and storage methods on fecal gut microbiome and metabolome profiles — Liang et al., mSphere · source ↗
2025
This study found that stool samples self-collected on cards showed high correlation and agreement with ethanol-fixed samples for metagenomic sequencing, with negligible differences in microbial diversity. The results support the use of stool cards as a cost-effective alternative for decentralised sampling in epidemiologic studies, despite minor variations in individual species abundance.
Comparing the Metagenomic Performance of Stools Collected from Custom Cards and 95% Ethanol in Epidemiologic Studies — Kuntz et al., Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology (paywalled) · source ↗
2025
This study compared OMNIgene Gut tubes and FTA cards for stool collection in a deployed setting, finding that OMNIgene yielded higher nucleic acid concentrations while both methods detected the majority of microbial genera. The authors conclude that distinct microbial abundance profiles between the two methods necessitate standardised protocols for field research.
Field expedient stool collection methods for gut microbiome analysis in deployed military environments — Kok et al., mSphere · source ↗
2024
This study compared two preservatives for stool samples and found that OMNIgene GUT OMR-200 produced less variation in metagenomic taxonomic data across different storage temperatures, supporting its use in decentralised field studies. The authors recommend absolute quantification to address bias in microbial measurements.
Quantifying bias introduced by sample collection in relative and absolute microbiome measurements — Maghini et al., Nature biotechnology (paywalled) · source ↗